Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 110: To Be Content

[T/n: note on chapter title]¹

“Sir! I really don’t need this!”

The hawker actually regretted his words the moment he shouted them, but since they had already left his mouth, he didn’t care anymore. Although he felt a little regretful, he still felt relieved in his heart.

However, the merchant saw that the gentleman in white was looking at him from a distance of only twenty steps, but he didn’t come back. He had no choice but to say something to the old man selling persimmons in the stall next to him.

“Uncle Chen, please help me watch the stall. I’ll go chase that customer and be right back!”

“Haha, go ahead!”

The old man was a little envious just now, seeing how he had made a lot of money for free. But now, he simply admired the young man.

Seeing the old man’s agreement, the vendor hurriedly walked out of the stall and chased after Ji Yuan.

Because of the shouts just now, some spectators nearby had stopped or walked slowly back, chatting about what happened. Some people who saw the whole thing from the beginning explained it in a low voice, while others who saw the end but not the beginning speculated together.

On the other side, Ji Yuan didn’t leave. He seemed to just be standing there, waiting for the vendor to catch up to him. When he saw that the man really came out of his stall to chase him, his eyes opened slightly.

The merchant took two steps at a time and soon arrived at Ji Yuan. He held the silver in his hand out to him.

“Sir… To tell the truth, this black jade hairpin is carved from rough materials. It’s worth at most twenty or thirty coins. To give a little over one tael… It’s too much.² If you gave me fifty coins, I would take it… If you really like it, please give me change in coins. I can’t give change for silver!”

After finishing this sentence in one breath, the merchant felt like he could breathe easier. However, he found that when he had finished his hurried speech, the man in white opposite him didn’t say anything, simply staring.

‘Could it be that I spoke too quickly and he didn’t hear me clearly? ’

Just as he had this thought, Ji Yuan finally spoke. However, he didn’t say anything in regards to the hairpin or the money.

“Excuse me, might I ask your name, young man?”

“Huh?”

The vendor was a little stunned. The other party didn’t accept the money, but asked for his name instead?

“My name is Lin Tian, ​​I’ve been manning the stall here. Sir, please take the money… Or could I not sell this jade hairpin?”

“No rush, no rush. I like this jade hairpin very much, I would definitely like to buy it today. However, I still have some doubts to resolve with Brother Lin: if I gave you one or two tael³ of gold at that time, would you still have chased me to give it back?”

This question was really strange, but it also aroused the imagination. Lin Tian hesitated a little and finally answered honestly:

“Sir, you must be joking. I’ve never seen a tael of gold in my entire life, so I couldn’t answer that. But with so much money, I might just run away with it, haha…”

Ji Yuan raised an eyebrow, then reached out to take the pieces of silver from the vendor’s hand.

“That’s right, I asked the wrong question. Let me go take another look at your stall. By the way, I heard that the dishes at Juntian city’s Zuixiang House⁴ are good, has Brother Lin ever been there?”

“Huh?”

The merchant grew even more confused after hearing his words.

. . .

At noon, the vendor Lin Tian himself did not know what was happening, but he inexplicably found himself following the gentleman in the white shirt named Mr. Ji to Zuixiang House.

Now Lin Tian and Ji Yuan were sitting face to face on the third floor of Zuixiang House, gazing at the scenery on both sides and out of the window. They both displayed a restrained countenance.

“Mr. Ji, this is too much… I’m just giving you a rough jade hairpin… I heard that this place is very expensive!”

Ji Yuan was amused seeing that Lin Tian didn’t dare to speak loudly.

“No matter how expensive it is, would it match three years of food expenses?”

Ji Yuan’s words once again sounded confusing to the vendor, and he didn’t know how to respond.

“The fish head soup with white cut chicken is ready~!⁵ The braised cabbage and powder steamed meat⁶ are here~!”

The waiter dragged out the end of the long dish names, holding a tray in each hand, and walked with small steps to Ji Yuan and his table by the window, carrying the two trays. His balance could be seen to be a skill born of long practice.

Lin Tian and Ji Yuan didn’t wait for the waiter to say anything, but instead hurriedly took the initiative to lend him a hand. They helped him put down the trays and unloaded a total of six dishes.

“This is Baotou fish soup, here is the white cut chicken, here is the vinegar soy paste,⁷ this is the braised bok choy, this is the powder steamed meat and the fried Three Treasures.⁸ Here is the lotus soup,⁹ you should eat it while it’s hot. This is homemade tangerine tong sui,¹⁰ and this plate of persimmons is a complimentary post-meal dessert. Sir, all of your dishes have arrived. Please let us know if you need anything!”

The waiter was skilled and spoke quickly, and he easily introduced all the dishes.

“Okay, thank you, little brother!”

Ji Yuan bowed to the waiter to express his gratitude, and Lin Tian beside him awkwardly followed suit.

“Alright, please take your time and enjoy, please enjoy!”

Seeing the waiter nod his head and leave, Ji Yuan encouraged Lin Tian, ​​who was already drooling, to start eating. He was the first to move his chopsticks, and he picked up the white cut chicken and dipped it in the condiments.

As soon as Lin Tian saw Mr. Ji start eating, he couldn’t hold back and began eating as well. The dishes from this kind of big restaurant could only be eaten once a year at most.

After three glasses of wine and five dishes, Lin Tian was already burping. After drinking some more fish head soup, Ji Yuan paused and asked Lin Tian, who was already feeling full:

“Brother Lin, I really like this jade hairpin. I’m afraid one meal may not be enough…”

“No, no, no, don’t, sir, you’re making me scared. Are you some wealthy relative of our Lin family? …Why don’t you eat a persimmon first, this persimmon is so sweet!”

Hearing that Ji Yuan had started again, Lin Tian was really frightened.

“Hahaha… I don’t want to eat persimmons for the time being… Brother Lin, please don’t give me more empty talk.”

“Ah, this persimmon is so sweet… tsk… Sir, what do you think?”

Ji Yuan tapped two fingers on the table as he looked out the window, listening to the noise of the city and the bustling market.

“If you were given a choice, Brother Lin, would you choose to forge ahead and become rich, or would you choose to live peacefully with a modest fortune?”

After Ji Yuan finished speaking, he opened his eyes wide and turned to look at Lin Tian. Although he was blind, his gaze nonetheless made Lin Tian stop his movements.

The surrounding noise seemed to have nearly disappeared, but Lin Tian didn’t notice. He couldn’t help but put down his half-persimmon and wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. He had the vague illusion that he was facing an important juncture in his life.

“Mr. Ji, I don’t have much knowledge or ambition. All I want is to get married, have two kids, live a stable life, take care of my parents until the end of their lives, and have someone take care of me until the end of my life…. With this, I would be very content!”

Hearing this, Ji Yuan sighed and closed his eyes slightly.

“It’s just that people change… The more they get, the more they want. Of course, it’s good if you can be content. Alright, little brother Lin, I hear you loud and clear. Pease call the waiter and tell him I will be paying the bill.”

“Okay!”

Lin Tian picked up the half persimmon again and ran to the stairs on the third floor to shout down.

“Waiter~! We’re ready to check out, on the third floor by the east window~!”

“Coming~!”

The waiter downstairs seemed be competing with Lin Tian in volume, ​​each shouting with their own tact.

Seeing Lin Tian running away, Ji Yuan dipped the fingers on his right hand in a little bit of the syrup water in his cup, and wrote the word a little sugar water in a cup on his right hand, wrote the word “satisfied”¹¹ on the table with the liquid, and then tapped the table with his middle finger. The word traced in syrup water was pulled into the air with his fingertips.

Then, he crossed his thumb and his middle finger and snapped them.

Swoosh…

The word “satisfied” quickly flew to the stairs, where Lin Tian just happened to be turning around at this exact moment.

With a snap, the word “satisfied” hit him right between the eyebrows.

Lin Tian only felt a chill on his forehead. He reached out to touch it, but didn’t feel anything. He subconsciously looked up at the ceiling, then returned to the table.

‘These persimmons are better than the ones sold by Mr. Chen, I should eat more. ’

Ji Yuan smiled and looked to the sky outside the window. He accidentally heard a few scholars downstairs discussing the provincial imperial examinations with a little excitement.

“It’s already time for the list of examination winners to be announced…”

With a wave of his hand, a white chess piece appeared in his sleeve. It had solidified compared to three years ago, and it was now only slightly less tangible than the piece representing tiger spirit Lu Shan Jun, who had been cultivating his Taoism for nearly two hundred years.

1. 知足常乐 (zhīzúchánglè): satisfied with what one has (idiom)
2. Lit: It’s too hot to keep, in the sense that it’s metaphorically burning a hole in his pocket
3. 1 tael = ~50g (1 3/4 oz)
4. 醉 (zuì): intoxicated, 香 (xiāng): fragrant/appetizing/aromatic
5. Fish head soup and white cut chicken, also called Cantonese Poached Chicken
6. Steamed pork with rice powder I really shouldn’t be translating while hungry
7. Soy paste seems to be unique to Taiwan, and it’s like a viscous soy sauce. I wouldn’t count this as an entire dish, more of a condiment
8. Dansanxian recipe. The “three treasures of the earth” are potatoes, eggplants, and sweet peppers
9. Either “Furong” location, cotton rose hibiscus, lotus, or foo yung (dish)
10. 糖水 (tángshuǐ): syrup, sweetened water, a kind of sweet syrup soup.
11. 遂 (suì): to satisfy/to succeed/to reach — not in the sense of outrageous achievement, but more in the sense of contentment